Regions

Noom raises $15M for food logging, activity tracking apps

Wellness app maker Noom has raised $15 million, according to an SEC filing. Han-Sing Hi-Tech Fund as well as existing investors TransLink Capital and RRE Ventures contributed to the round, according to Fortune's Term Sheet. This brings the company's total funding to at least $24.6 million.

The funding, according to the SEC filing, "will be used for research and development, general corporate and working capital purposes, some of which may include salaries and/or other compensation paid to executive officers in the ordinary course of business".

Noom was founded in 2007 as WorkSmart Labs, but changed its name in 2011 to match its flagship product, a weight loss app with a focus on food tracking, called Noom Coach (formerly Noom Weight), available on Android and iOS devices. The app offers users a virtual coach, which assigns them educational articles and challenges associated with their daily schedules. Noom added the iOS compatibility in September 2014 and also sends nutritional information from the app into Apple's HealthKit platform.

The company's two other apps, Noom Walk and Noom Cardio, are Android-only. Noom Walk is meant to be especially battery-friendly compared to other activity tracking apps, because it does not use the GPS constantly, and instead leverages the mobile device’s accelerometer.